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| Is it Ethical to Discuss Medical Tourism With Your Patient? |
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by Pam Brammann, R.N. - February 13, 2012
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The growing popularity of medical tourism among the American people as a lower cost alternative to medical care in the United States has inspired some questions in the medical community.
Medical tourism enables people to obtain American quality health care for less than half of what it would cost in the United States, by traveling to other countries that have fully accredited hospitals that offer the highest quality health care.
What if you, as a nurse or doctor, are chatting with a patient who desperately needs a knee replacement and they tell you they simply cannot afford the surgery unless they take out a 2nd mortgage on their home?
Do you feel comfortable telling them about the option of medical tourism? If you work in a hospital, you might feel such a discussion would take business away from your employer. Yet as a health care professional, you are dedicated to doing what is in your patient’s best interest.
A knee replacement, which typically costs around a total of $40,000 in the U.S.A., will only cost around $12,000 abroad. When you include travel expenses, lodging, and physical therapy before returning home, the price on average is still around 60% less than the same treatment in the United States.
http://www.ihtworld.com/medical_tourism_procedures.html This chart lists a few examples of procedures with typical costs. Notice how the costs in the United States are so much higher than the rest of the world.
Upon researching health care alternatives outside the United States, you’ll find that many Joint Commission International (JCI) accredited hospitals exist just a few hours away from the United States by airline. JCI accreditation means that all doctors and nurses have met or exceeded the same educational requirements, as well as safety and quality standards demanded in the USA. The only difference is cost.
As an advocate for your patient, it should always be your intention to do what is in their best interest and present all the alternatives. Does this include informing your patient about medical tourism?
Pam Brammann, R.N. is President and Managing Director of IHT World, LLC, a medical tourism service that helps people obtain American quality treatment abroad, without the crushing prices. http://www.ihtworld.com
The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.
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| Sharon (Ohio) |
on 24 Feb 2012 at 4:33 am |
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Well said and I totally agree!
It's something our legislature needs to address but will not take on....since "they" are sitting pretty in their ivory towers. |
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| Thomas (Apple Valley. Ca) |
on 17 Feb 2012 at 3:47 pm |
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| When comparing the cost for procedures in the USA, with other countries, the indisputable facts of liability insurance cost, with the resultant "preventative" liability measures and testing, layers and layers of hospital bureaucracy, is never mentioned as a cause of increased cost by politicians, or anyone advocating a change in our system. their answer is to pay providers(doctors) less, not correct the above problems in any meaningful way. Abroad, equipment (i.e. CT , MRI scanners, lab equipment) isn't any cheaper, in fact probably more costly. So to blame technology as a cause only is pure baseless idiotic rhetoric, and propaganda. Many Doctors, abroad receive their training in the US, and return home, in practicality doing what business does in moving jobs overseas for the same reasons, uncontrolled legal problems and layers of regulation. I make these observations having practiced medicine for 45 years, beginning when the daily hospital charge was $60/day ! |
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